The remains of the walls of the town castle and the building on the site of the original castle are located in the town of Podolínec, in the northern part of the Poprad basin, approximately halfway between Kežmark and Stará Ľubovňa.
The town castle in Podolínec was approx. 70x40 m. It consisted of a palace and farm buildings surrounded by a stone defensive wall. A massive tower with a gate provided access to the courtyard. The foundations of the tower are marked in the pavement in front of the municipal office. The walls surrounded the entire medieval city with a trapezoid shape. There were built bastions and two main gates (Lower and Upper). The fortification was strengthened by a moat, fed from the arm of the river Poprad. Drawbridges led through the moat.The castle stood on the site of today's municipal office and east of it. The current office building is one floor lower than the original castle and undoubtedly contains part of the walls of the original palace. From the city walls remained a continuous belt in the south of the city. The gates were demolished, but up to eight bastions remained. The best preserved are three horseshoe bastions south and one north of the former lower gate and another four near the Piarist monastery. The two upper gate guard towers and the bastion at the entrance to the monastery were reconstructed.
- Source: PLAČEK M.
- BÓNA M.
- Encyklopédia slovenských hradov
King Sigismund of Luxembourg placed the town of Podolínec in the hands of Imrich Perényi in 1408 and on April 10, 1409 Imrich obtained permission to build a castle or fortress inside the walls. In 1412 the castle was finished, as this year the Podolín Castle under the name "opidium Podolinecz cum fortalicio" is mentioned in the deed of deposit of King Sigismund of Luxembourg issued in Zagreb.
In 1442 the castle resisted the attack of Ján Jiskra of Brandýs. Its owner Mikuláš Komorovský later joined Peter Aksamit and took part in his resistance.
A written source from 1553 testifies to the then appearance of the castle. The castle palace was a four-storey building. In the basement there were cellars and on the raised ground floor there were storage rooms and a large living room. The first floor had 6 chambers, the second one room and 3 chambers. The upper gate was rebuilt into a staircase with shooting ranges and two cannons. There was a courtyard in front of the entrance to the castle palace and the entrance was secured by a separate gate. The second part of the castle was formed by a farmyard (today's area of the fire station).
In the second half of the 16th century, the castle was repaired, later again in 1593 on the initiative of Sebastian Lubomirský, which is documented by a stone plaque on the facade of the castle palace. His descendant Stanislav founded a Piarist college in the middle of the 17th century, the complex of which was often mistaken for a castle in literature.
The Piarists also lived in the castle palace from 1642 until the handover of the monastery building until 1648.
A written source from 1765 states that the castle almost completely existed in that year. During this period, however, the castle palace no longer fulfilled its defensive function, nor the function of the seat of the mayors of Spiš.
In the 19th century, little money was invested in its repairs and it soon turned into a ruin. Therefore, it was long assumed that it completely disappeared. The castle palace was and still is a significant dominant of the town Podolínec. In the past, the castle palace was one floor higher and had a high roof. In the 20th century, the people of Podolín decided to restore the castle palace for the needs of the city. During these years, the fortifications of the castle were demolished by the city and the entrance gate to the castle as well as probably the main city gates and the palace was lowered.
According to measurements from the end of the 19th century, the fortifications of the castle were 70 meters long and 40 meters wide. In these years, the name Podolín Castle Ratúš - town hall was probably created. Today's building of the town hall contains part of the masonry of the original castle palace and there is a fire station in the premises of the farmyard.
In 2014, archaeological research took place, which discovered the remains of preserved masonry and proved the presence of the former entrance gate to the city and its floor plan.
There are no myths available.
The building is the seat of the municipal office. The walls are freely accessible.